Adelaide festival apologises to Randa Abdel-Fattah and invites her to participate in 2027 writers’ week

<p>Apology comes as former Adelaide festival board member accuses Louise Adler of hypocrisy after she resigned citing free speech concerns</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/jan/15/victoria-bushfires-school-data-hack-adelaide-writers-week-peter-malinauskas-labor-hate-speech-laws-political-reaction-anthony-albanese-sussan-ley-coalition-ntwnfb"><strong>Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates</strong></a></p></li><li><p><strong>Get our </strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau_sfl"><strong>breaking news email</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3"><strong>free app</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau_sfl"><strong>daily news podcast</strong></a></p></li></ul><p>The new Adelaide Festival board has issued a public apology to Palestinian-Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, and has promised she will be invited to Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2027.</p><p>“On 8 January 2026 the Adelaide Festival Corporation published a statement announcing that it had decided to exclude Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from participating as a speaker at Adelaide Writers’ Week this year,” the statement from the Adelaide Festival Corporation said.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/jan/15/adelaide-festival-apologises-randa-abdel-fattah-2027-invite-ntwnfb">Continue reading...</a>

Read the full article at: The Guardian World →